Bear Hounds Ban

Tuesday morning at 9am, the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee takes up a bill to ban the use of hounds in the hunting of bears and bobcats. You can read the proposed measure here and contact the members of the committee through this site.

Senator Ted Lieu is sponsoring the bill. He says dogs with their radio collars give the hunters an unfair advantage, that it's unsportsmanlike. He also says the chase is cruel, stressing the bears even if a hunter does not wind up shooting them. Further, Lieu says the hounds attack other wildlife, pets and livestock on private land.

It was important for me to have a balanced report, so I spent a Saturday night in Red Bluff with the California Houndsmen for Conservation -- 500 members at a fundraiser. They are concerned about their rights being preserved. They believe this bill is just the first step in a vegan agenda.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

You can research more on the number of bears killed in legal hunts here on the California Department of Fish and Game website.

Senator Lieu introduced the bill after California Fish and Game Commission President Bill Richards bagged a mountain lion in Idaho using hounds.

Comments

It is incredibly unfair as a huntsman to use radio trackers on hounds! Men aren't the hunters they once were, they don't need to hunt for survival so they have lost that capability physically and mentally. USING hounds is not "hunting" the hounds are the only ones actually doing the "hunting". Until huntsman can figure out how to hunt on their own, they are just murderers.

Yeah your trying to ban people from using dogs to hunt bears, but you won't let us bait the bears like others states do.Pretty soon people will start going out out oif state to hunt because the laws will be so strict that you can hunt at all here and then the state will lose all the money they get from all of the hunters.

It saddened me to see what people will do in the name of a sport and believe it is their basic right. Where is the animals right for basic survival? I strongly support a ban on using hounds to hunt Bears, bobcats and other wildlife in California.

I support hound hunting.. Sen.Lieu does not now what he is talking about. GPS collars are not allowed on the dogs a radio transmitter is allowed. The transmitter gives you the general direction of the game that is on the run or about to be treed. Sen. Lieu says he did not realize hound hunting was allowed in C.A. why all of a sudden does he take an interest. Lieu needs to take a hunting safety course in C.A. to about hunting and its ethics. Only 1% of Americans hunt , I feel sorry for the families that depend on hound hunting. I hope this bill does not pass and C.A. hunters and non-hunters can vote against this bill pushed by Sen. Lieu.who has all the facts wrong..

To see a bunch of "grown" men junping and giggling liike little girls over effortlessly killing bears trapped by hounds with gps devices is beyond belief. Cruel behaviour has nothing to do with Freedom.

I am a first generation C.A born and raised in the Bay Area. My Grand Father and father migrated to California for freedoms they did not have in the South... My father use to hunt through milpitas, freemont and livermore when he was your. Every generation looses more and more freedom in C.A. Hunting, public land and all the crazy laws, and restrictions. This is part of the reason why in all of californias history that 2011 this state had its first influx of people leaving here to live in other states. So the reasons why my family came here for a better life is over. My family is going to leave this state to make a better life for our self where we will have more freedom for the outdoors and more public land to enjoy and less crazy Californians to deal with!

From Google: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

From Wikipedia: Sport is all forms of competitive physical activity which,through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants.

Note where the emphasis is in each of these definitions (and frankly all definition sources)---exercise, ie: "involving physical exertion" or "improve phisical fitness".

Get real people with guns. You're not hunters and you are definitely not engaged in any type of sport.

While I'm completely against hunting, if you have to spend your time killing animals, at least take on the actual challenge and follow the rules of hunting, the actual "sport". Having your dogs chase and corner bears so you can kill them is flat out animal abuse.

The fact that we are even spending money on this issue is infuriating. Not only do I support the ban I think any situation where any animal is in a situation of being tortured should be banned period. Hunting bears with hounds is ANIMAL CRUELTY...PERIOD. There is no justification.

I was shocked to see the story about the hunters using dogs to hunt bears. It hurt me to see them tearing at the bears flesh. I am a strong believer that hunting should be for food, not sport! If you are going to hunt for sport, it should be more of a challenge.

Why kill a bear or a Mountain lion?? For the inhumane thrill of the hunt? Certainly not for food..... What a waste of an innocent animal. Not too manly, killing a helpless animal, especially using (too many) dogs and even tracking devices. How macho is that? It makes me sick and wonder what type of person could think this is fun or some type of amusement.

For those of you who don't know we eat the bears we kill it keeps food on my table sorry I am not rich and can spend 3 or 4 hundred dollars at the store . As for an easy kill the last bear we caught took us 10 miles into the woods With no roads only walking and then had to carry a bear back to the truck . As for the training of our dogs it takes years to teach a bear dog to tree bear you cant just grab a dog from your back yard and go. The tracking collars only give you a direction to locate your lost dogs . It's sad to see americas fredoms getting took away every day.when does it
Stop? Maybe behind the iron curtain?

The waste of the lives of innocent animals and the cruelty and cowardice of the way they are hunted is unbelievable. To see the hounds chasing the bear and treeing him, or worse, and when he's helpless some so-called hunter shoots him, makes me almost physically ill.

As an avid, competitive athlete in running and triathlon, I appreciate sports. Yet, put a boxer in a fighting ring, the competing boxer clearly understands what is a stake. Swim from Alcatraz, the swimmer understands the risks involved. But place a dog with a tracking devise against a bear [cub] in a tree to fall to fate amongst hounds or the hunter is clearly a disadvantage. Least the boxer who steps in the ring understands and agrees to the rule of the game. GPS, radio devise, high frequency, call it whatever you want, is an abuse in the sport of hunting. Humans will always hold the upper-hand so long as technology and science is involved. It's a one sided sport rendering animals defenseless. Who are we to take a life?

I feel it is an unfair practice to hunt animals in such a way as the hunter has a huge advantage. Plus,has anyone given thought to the fact that many dogs aren't as lucky as it would appear-some are injured by their prey,or killed. Better yet,it should be incumbent upon California to get the mountain lion population under control before some child is attacked.

Do some research people in Oregon they pay for full time hunters with dogs to manage their bear problems. Just like our protected mountain lion more have been killed with depridation permits and the meat and hide are buried as it is illegal to use any part of them. Because of over population some cats are starving but they are protected in California.

I am so tired of gun-toting people crying about their liberties, and civil rights. This issues has NOTHING to do with liberty -- civil, or otherwise. However, I will say there is DEFINITELY NO CIVILITY in hunting any animal with hounds. IF you must shoot an animal which has been chased within an inch of exhaustion; is within 10 feet of you -- or from any range less than that of which you would approach said animal in its normal state; and YOU are NOT SKILLED enough to track and kill this animal on your own [merit] ... maybe you should stick with the shooting arcade? I would imagine this type of 'sportsman' also prefers to fish out of a barrel. And the argument about population control? Native Peoples once only used bow and arrows and the animal populations seemed to regulate themselves quite naturally. If we leave it up to modern man ... We are already witness to the dire effects man has on our natural resources, environment, etc.

How can a journalist claim to be fair and accurate in reporting a story, when he talks to a couple of local hunters, a state senator, and a PAID represenative of the Humane Society. Why didn't you talk to the director of the houndsman assoc., or ask the fish and game? It is amazing to me that the banch of gov. that is in charge of managing our wildlife uses this very method of tracking problem animals and you did not interview them. this is the worst example of one sided reporting I have seen in a long time. Furthermore the Humane Society supports domestic terrorist groups such as ALF and SHARK, why don't you do a investigation of this group and actually report the truth, instead of just claiming to be fair. The facts are out there about them look in finacial records, or contact groups like the PRCA. Just once I would love it if the news would expose the Humane Society for what they really are a MEGA-Million dollar corp. that supports terrist.

I'm a strong advocate of animal rights, but unless an animal is endangered or threatened hunting them within reason is morally acceptable. In my state deer are overpopulated and getting hit by cars because there aren't enough people hunting them. As for the hounds...people have hunted with dogs for thousands of years, and I think that's ok. I think the radio transmiters are a bit unsportsman-like, though, just like hunting squirrels with 12-guage shot guns with 24-inch sprays takes no skill. Track your dogs on your own if you want to be a real hunter!

California is full of people against hunting! But they will go to the grocery store and buy meat to eat. And buy dog food and catfood for their pets.. How do you think those things are made? Ever been to a slaughter house>? I went hunting for bears 2011 with hounds when the dogs get a styke on the ground we get out of the trucks and look at the tracks first to make sure the bear is solo and does not have a cub and is the right size. My family and I ate every peace of meat from the bear. I support hound hunting for bears and bob-cats!

Thank you iTeam for drawing attention to this issue. It is extremely upsetting that individuals find hunting with their pack of dogs that have fixed electronic tracking devices attached to them, no less, acceptable behavior in this day and age. The hunted bears are not hunted for food nor are the hunted because are endangering peoples livestock or families so why do it? These people are sick. The hunters were yelling with delight and excitement as the hunted suffered. No person with any moral ethic would "cheer" at such a site or condone this kind of "hunting".

This act has nothing to do with your rights and your right to kill animals that pose no danger to you and others. What about my right to protect animals? Rights belong to both non-gun owners as well as those who choose to own them.

There must be a cost to supply a hunter with hunting equipment, dogs, feeding dogs, training, transportation, etc. I find it hard to believe the only alternative for survival is to chase down a bear or cat with dogs in order to supply your family with food. It's not just American freedoms being "took away".